


Missing Yu

by Code_The_Poet



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Adopted Siblings, Angst, Best Friends, Friendship, Gen, Loneliness, Post-Canon, and some fluff, but it could also be platonic, if you want to interpret it that way, souyo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:41:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27421384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Code_The_Poet/pseuds/Code_The_Poet
Summary: After Yu leaves Inaba, Yosuke feels like a part of him has gone as well. It turns out he's not the only one missing their leader, however, even if a certain bear is rather annoying about it.
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke & Kuma | Teddie, Hanamura Yosuke & Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke & Persona 4 Protagonist
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Missing Yu

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Persona 4 fic, I hope you enjoy! It takes place after the events of the game, so spoilers obviously.

_SLAM!_

Mrs. Hanamura looked up from washing dishes to see her son standing in the entrance to the house, scowling at the door as if it had personally offended him.

“Hello Yosuke!” she called, putting on a cheery smile. “How are you?”

He threw his school bag in the corner and kicked off his shoes with the same forcefulness with which he had closed the door. “Fine,” he answered, his voice surprisingly expressionless despite his agitated outward demeanor.

“Rough day at school?” pressed his mother, not fooled by the bland answer.

Yosuke shrugged, stepping further into the house. “Not really.”

“Are you sure?” Mrs. Hanamura dried her hands on the towel and moved closer to him, searching her son’s face for an explanation for his apparent distress.

He turned away from her. “I told you, I’m _fine_ ,” he said through gritted teeth. “Just leave me alone, why don’t you?”

His mother’s face fell. “Yosuke—” she started, but he was already stomping out of the kitchen. Another _slam!_ came from the direction of his room, and she turned back to her dishes with a sigh. “That boy’s been so volatile lately,” she murmured worriedly to herself. “I wonder what’s wrong?”

Yosuke stood just on the other side of the door to his room, his blood pounding in his veins. He cast his eyes around the messy room, looking for something he could kick to vent his frustration, but when nothing suitable caught his eye he stalked over to his bed and threw himself face down on top of the covers instead.

_I hate school. I hate my family. I hate this stupid town. I hate—_

A knock on the door interrupted his racing thoughts, and Yosuke turned his head to glare in the direction of the door. “I said to leave me alone!” he shouted, assuming his mom had followed him.

“Yosuke,” whined an all-too-familiar voice, “you said you’d watch TV with me after school today.”

He groaned, his annoyance deepening even further. “Go away, Ted.”

“But Yo-su-ke.” The voice rose in pitch, making his head hurt. “You _promised—_ ”

“I know what I said,” Yosuke cut him off. “I just don’t want to do it right now, okay?”

There was a dramatic gasp from the other side of the door. “I’m bear-y offended that you don’t want to spend time with me!”

“Nobody wants to spend time with you, you stupid bear!” he retorted, a bit more harshly than he’d intended. Teddie’s voice dissolved into sniffles and Yosuke heard a choked sob as his footsteps retreated down the hall.

“What a drama queen,” he muttered to himself, but he felt a pang of guilt all the same. Instead of chasing after the other boy, however, he reached for his headphones and turned up the volume on his MP3 player as high as it would go in an attempt to drown out the negative emotions stewing within him.

Staring at the wall, the dull roar of the music burning itself into his eardrums, Yosuke felt his anger start to dissipate. He almost wished it hadn’t, though, because it was replaced with a familiar crushing loneliness instead.

It wasn’t that he had no one to spend time with. He knew that the remaining members of the Investigation Team would be happy to hang out if he asked, and Teddie’s constant clamouring for attention, as annoying as it often was, was also proof that he wasn’t really alone.

But if Yosuke was being perfectly honest, _which he wasn’t because there was no reason it should hurt this much,_ there was one person in particular whose absence had carved a hole in his heart. It wasn’t Saki-senpai, for as much as he missed his former senpai he had finally made peace with the fact that she would never be coming back from the dead.

The person Yosuke missed most right now was his best friend, Yu.

Of course he missed him, though. Everyone seemed to miss the charismatic transfer student from the city who had apparently managed to charm the entire town during his too-short stay. From the other members of the Investigation Team to the athletes and musicians in the school clubs, most of Yasogami High seemed to remember him with fondness. And that was to say nothing of Yu’s uncle and cousin, both of whom must miss him immensely.

But some childish part of Yosuke insisted that no one missed Yu more than _he_ did, and he let the bitterness wash over him like a wave. How could he not, when he had been so lonely before the silver-haired boy had shown up in his life?

Then, by some cruel twist of fate, a song came up on his headphones that made Yosuke’s eyes well up with tears. It was a generic song about missing someone, but the lyrics struck him to his core and left him angrily wiping at his eyes.

_Great, now I’m crying over some dumb song like a girl,_ Yosuke thought to himself. He rolled over onto his back to stare up at the ceiling, as if gravity would help hold in his tears, but when he saw the figure standing silently beside his bed he jolted upright.

“What the hell are you doing in here, Ted?” he snarled, pushing his headphones back and letting them fall around his neck. “You know you’re supposed to knock before barging in like that!”

Teddie shrank back at the anger in Yosuke’s voice, looking uncharacteristically ashamed of himself. “You didn’t answer when I knocked,” he defended himself.

Yosuke hadn’t heard a knock, but he _had_ been blasting his music so he decided not to press that point. “Still, you know it’s super creepy to come in and stare at someone without saying anything, right?”

“And _you_ know it’s super rude to yell at someone after promising to watch TV with them, right?” countered Teddie, who had the nerve to look like he was the victim in the situation.

Yosuke groaned. “Look, I’m sorry I yelled at you. Now can you go away and leave me alone?”

“How rude!” Teddie’s voice was edging dangerously close to sniffle territory again. “I just wanted to spend time with Yosuke but he would rather sit in his room and cry all on his own.”

“I’m not crying,” lied Yosuke, wiping hurriedly at his eyes. “And stop talking about me like I’m not here!”

“I spent a lot of time crying alone, before Yu-sensei and his friends fell into the TV,” the other boy continued, ignoring Yosuke completely. “Sensei would be sad if he knew Yosuke was leaving me all on his own again.”

“What the—Teddie you live in my house!” Yosuke took a deep breath, trying not to let the desperation creep into his voice when he added, “And can you please not talk about Yu right now?”

“Why?” Teddie was suddenly uncomfortably close to Yosuke’s face, staring at him unblinkingly with his pale blue eyes.

“Ugh, back up a bit will you?” Yosuke shoved the other boy, not hard enough to push him over but enough to make him take a step back. “I miss him, okay? Is that not allowed?”

Unfortunately, this had the opposite effect that Yosuke had intended, as Teddie lunged forward and threw himself into the other boy’s lap. “I miss Sensei too,” he wailed, tears materializing out of nowhere to rival one of Rise’s crying fits. “You never let me talk to him on the phone when he calls and you’re always so mean to me. Sensei would never be that mean!”

“Jeez, Teddie,” groaned Yosuke, but even he couldn’t find it in him to push the sobbing boy off of him. He settled for awkwardly crossing his arms and praying his parents wouldn’t walk in and get the wrong idea.

“And Yuki-chan is always hanging out with Chie-chan and Nao-chan is away working on cases and Kanji-kun is busy with his sewing classes and Rise-chan is gone like Sensei so Teddie is stuck here with no one but Yosuke for company.” The bear continued to bawl, his words gradually becoming less and less intelligible.

“Alright alright, I get the picture,” interrupted Yosuke when he could no longer stand it. “You don’t have to go on and on about how horrible I am.”

Teddie quit trying to talk, but he continued to cry for what felt like an eternity to Yosuke, who could feel his legs going numb under the weight of the other boy. At last, his sobs started to even out, replaced by hiccups and shaky breaths.

Once he was sure that Teddie had stopped crying, Yosuke shifted his legs so that the other boy was laying on the bed beside him instead of across him. “You’d better not complain that I don’t care about you after letting you drip snot all over me like that,” he said, rubbing his legs in an attempt to restore circulation to them.

“I’m sorry, Yosuke,” whimpered Teddie, starting to sit up. “I’ll leave now.”

“No, it’s fine,” said Yosuke hastily, his previous guilt returning. “I guess you can stay if you’re really that lonely.”

He immediately regretted his generosity when Teddie’s face brightened and he said, “So you’ll watch TV with me after all?”

Yosuke shook his head. “Nah, don’t feel like it.”

“Oh.” The boy deflated again, but then he fixed Yosuke with his piercing, icy-blue stare. “Yosuke, don’t tell me you’re lonely too?”

“Absolutely not,” lied Yosuke. “I have lots of friends at school, you know.” _Even though none of them are Yu,_ he added in his head, but there was no way he was going to share that part out loud.

Teddie heaved a put-upon sigh and said, “I guess you won’t open up your heart to me then, even after I beared everything to you.”

Yosuke grimaced. “Damnit, why do you always make everything sound so weird?”

“I can make it sound even weirder,” offered Teddie, and Yosuke couldn’t tell if he was genuinely trying to help or being an annoying little shit like usual. His bet was on the latter, though.

“Okay, fine,” he gave in. “I’ll talk to you if it will make you actually shut up for once.” He doubted that Teddie would listen either way, but it was worth a shot. “Just don’t go around blabbing about this to everyone, okay?”

“Ooh, telling secrets! This is just like the slumber parties that girls are always talking about.” Teddie rolled over and propped himself up on his elbows, staring expectantly at Yosuke. “My ears are bear-ready!”

Yosuke looked away, fixing his eyes on the opposite wall so he didn’t have to meet Teddie’s intense gaze. “You’re right, I am lonely,” he began after taking a moment to collect his thoughts. “I didn’t have any friends before Yu came here either, you know, and not having him around hurts a lot. And I’m not good at dealing with feelings and crap like this so I’m sorry if I’ve been abrasive because of it.” His voice got sadder as he continued, “It’s just that he’s my best friend, you know?”

Teddie gasped dramatically. “But Yosuke, I’m right here!”

Yosuke made a face at him. “Yeah, you wish. Just because you live with me doesn’t mean you’re my best friend.”

Teddie scrunched up his face like he did when he was thinking. “So does that make you my big bro then?”

“What the—” Yosuke pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “Where did you come up with an idiotic idea like that?”

“Well, since Nana-chan lives with Yu-sensei and she calls him her big bro—”

“No,” Yosuke cut him off before he could finish. “Absolutely not. Call me that again and I might have to bring my knives out of retirement.”

Teddie sulked in silence for a while before speaking again. “Well, I guess we both miss Sensei bear-y much.”

“Yeah,” agreed Yosuke, but he couldn’t stop himself from adding, “I miss him more, though.”

“But you’re the one who said you have lots of friends at school,” argued Teddie.

Yosuke crossed his arms stubbornly. “Doesn’t matter. He’s _my_ best friend.”

The other boy mimicked him by sitting up and crossing his arms as well. “Then he’s my best friend _too_!”

“That’s not how best friends work, you idiot!”

Teddie opened his mouth to protest further, but he was interrupted by a sudden yawn. “Crying makes me sleepy,” he said instead, laying down and stretching out so that his head was on Yosuke’s pillow.

“What the—Teddie, you can’t sleep here!” protested Yosuke in horror. “This is my bed!”

He could tell without looking that Teddie was smirking into the pillow. “You said I could stay, though.”

“Well yeah, but I didn’t mean you could _sleep_ here. Where the hell am I going to sleep?”

“It’s okay, Yosuke.” Teddie’s voice was heavy with sleep. “Just think of me as your teddy bear.”

“Hell no!” he cried, but his protests fell on deaf ears as Teddie proceeded to fall asleep in what seemed like world record time. Yosuke was debating between carrying the boy back to his own bed or pushing him unceremoniously onto the floor when his phone rang. Digging it out of his pocket, his entire face lit up when he recognized Yu’s phone number on the screen.

“Hey partner!” he greeted the caller, his excitement nearly overriding his exasperation.

It wasn’t enough, apparently, because Yu let out a chuckle on the other end of the line. “Not fighting with Teddie again, are you?”

Yosuke groaned. “You’ll never believe what that stupid bear did this time…”

Ever the good listener, Yu let his friend rant about the bear’s latest offences, but he couldn’t suppress a snicker when Yosuke mentioned Teddie’s aborted attempt at calling him “big bro”.

“Sounds like you’ve got yourself a little brother,” he commented, the amusement in his voice evident.

“Ugh, don’t you give me that crap too,” complained Yosuke. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“I am,” Yu assured him. “I just think it’s funny.” His tone turned serious as he asked, “Where is he now, by the way? Last time I talked to Chie she said Teddie was dying to talk to me.”

“Oh, he’s here,” admitted Yosuke. “I don’t think he’s up for talking, though. The idiot had the nerve to fall asleep in my bed after all that.”

“I see.” Yu was quiet for a moment. “Let him know I say hi then, alright?”

“Yeah.” Yosuke felt suddenly guilty, and blurted out, “Sorry, I should let him have the phone more often, shouldn’t I? He was pretty upset that I never let him talk to you.”

“You like having me all to yourself that much?” teased his friend.

“Hey, cut that out!” Yosuke was glad the other boy couldn’t see his face flush red. “It’s not like I’m jealous or anything!”

“Sure,” said Yu in that voice that meant he didn’t buy it for a minute. “You know you’re my best friend, right? I like Teddie and all the others too, of course, but that doesn’t mean you’re any less important to me.”

A warm feeling spread through Yosuke’s chest. “Well, uh—thanks,” he stammered. “Damnit, you don’t have to get all sentimental about it though.”

“Too bad, I want to.” Yu took a deep breath before adding in a soft voice, “I miss you.”

“I miss you too, partner.” Yosuke’s voice broke slightly and he cleared his throat in embarrassment. “Uh, I should probably get Ted back to his bed now, though.”

“Good luck,” replied Yu. “Call me later when he’s awake, yeah?”

“Of course,” promised Yosuke.

Once they’d both said their goodbyes, Yosuke let the hand with his phone fall to his side. Looking over at Teddie, who had slept through the entire call, he found himself reluctant to move him. Out of pure laziness, obviously—it _definitely_ didn’t have anything to do with how peaceful the bear-turned-human looked in his sleep.

“I guess you can stay here for the night,” he grumbled in Teddie’s direction, even though he knew the boy couldn’t hear him. “Just stay on your side of the bed, okay?”

The only response from Teddie was a light snore, and Yosuke lay down on his side of the bed with a sigh. Since Teddie had already claimed the pillow, he resigned himself to using his own arm as one instead. Despite his discomfort, he had to admit that having Teddie here was doing wonders to ease the crushing weight of loneliness that he had come to take for granted lately.

He would never mention it to anyone, not even Yu, but just for a moment Yosuke wondered if this was what it was like to have a little brother.


End file.
